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H Centennial ©ration 



on tbc Xifc anb public Servicer of 



General Ifra Hllen 



DelivereJ) 



Commencement H)a^ June ,29 1892 
B? prof. 3/ eF isooMicb 




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COPYRIGHT 1892 

J. E. GOODRICH. 



Zhc Xife anb public Services of 
General lira alien. 

The early history of the ISTew Hampshire Grants presents- 
few incidents which cannot be paralleled in other American^ 
colonies. But from the year 1764, the date of the Order in 
Council transferring the district to the jurisdiction of JN^ew 
York, the panorama, which hitherto had unrolled itself in 
quiet and orderly sequence, changes to an exciting drama with 
rapidly shifting scenes, an intricate plot, and an uncertain 
issue. So serious and so hazardous are the complications in 
which the interests both of the nascent state and of the indi- 
vidual actors are involved, that the feelings of the historical 
onlooker are stirred with alternate hope and fear as to the out- 
come. There are points in the unfolding action where the 
case seems simply desperate, knots which human ingenuity 
seems incompetent to untie or to cat, obstacles which no vigor 
or unanimity of effort is likely to evade or to overcome. 

The danger threatens now on the west, and now on the 
east, and then on both sides at once, and again takes the omin- 
ous shape of hostile invasion from the north; appears sometimes- 
as intestine dissension or revolt, and again as a spirit of distrust 
or positive hostility in the Continental Congress. The appeal 
is made successively to popular argument, to diplomacy, and,. 
these failing, to the musket and the beech seal. 



To the spectator, the case seems more than once ah'eadj 
decided against the npstart republic. The odds are too great, 
the enemies of the would-be State too many and too closely 
united, save for that magnificent courage which was invincible, 
because it never admitted that it was worsted, whether by 
logic or by arms. During the more than quarter-century of 
the travail which ended in the first accession to the original 
family of thirteen States, the political Lucina sat perversely 
cross-legged, if so she might possibly thwart the benign pur- 
pose of liberty and the gracious decrees of fate. ' 

Most of the prominent actors on this stage have been 
treated with something like justice, and have had a niche 
accorded them in the temple of history. The prudent soldier- 
ship of Warner, the firm policy of Chittenden, the solid patri- 
otism of the Robinsons and the Fays and the Brownsons, 
Bradley's brilliant career and Baker's untimely death,— these 

' The case of Vermont was saved, so to say, by the dishonesty and 
injustice of the New York officials. If New York land jobbers had been 
less greedy, if New York governors — and Lieut. -Gov. Colden in particu- 
lar — had not in their hunger for fees recklessly regranted lands in disre- 
gard of the king's mandate ; if the ruluigs of New York courts had not 
been in defiance of law and facts ; if the administration attempted by 
New York had been characterized by a fair measure of justice and an 
occasional regard for the chartered rights of the actual settlers ; if Gov- 
ernor Clinton had not been unreasonably obstinate, — if any of these ifs 
had been facts, the dwellers between Lake Champlain and the Connecti- 
cut would to-day be contentedly paying taxes to New York, and rejoic- 
ing in the fame and power of the Empire State. 



should be familiar themes to all Yermonters who care to know 
their political ancestry. 

Most prominent of the whole group, like a comet moving 
athwart a constellation, shines the fame of Ethan Allen. Im- 
pulsive and imperious, prompt in decision and in action, self- 
confident, courageous even to rashness, he is the best known^ 
if not the most admired, of all the figures of those early days. 
Indeed his military reputation has served to obscure his 
undoubted merits as a defender by reason and argument of the 
chartered rights of the settlers on the Grants. His services 
as envoy and agent of the State government are by no means 
to be overlooked in making up his record. He struck as effec- 
tive blows for the liberties of Yermont with voice and pen 
sometimes as with the sword. Perhaps history has awarded 
him his full meed of honor. The American school boy can 
recite his exploits, and the pilgi-im's homage is challenged by 
column and statue rising yonder above his honored dust, but 
comparatively few are acquainted with the part played in the 
same protracted struggle by Ethan's j^oungest brother. 

The soldier's gaudy uniform attracts all eyes. His unself- 
ish and absolute offering of life and fortune on his country's 
altar compels admiration. Yet the victories of the general 
may be of less moment than those of the diplomatist or the 
statesman, albeit the latter are won in the seclusion of the cab- 
inet or the council chamber. 



And yet Ira Allen, as well as a third meinljer of this noted 
brotherhood, was also a soldier. Before he was twenty he had 
served as a lientenant with the Green Mountain Boys. At 
the age of twenty -four in 1775 he assisted Ethan Allen in tak- 
ing the British garrisons on Lake Champlain, as also General 
Montgomery in the taking of St. Johns and Montreal. A 
few weeks later we find him responsible for an important 
movement in connection with the unsuccessful attack upon 
Quebec. At the date of the Dorset convention of January, 
1776, Lieutenant L'a Allen was with the army before Quebec. 
A month later he leaves the field of arms and the open con- 
test with Great Britain to defend the imperilled rights of the 
settlers on the Grants against the aggressions of 'New York 
land jobbers, and to concert plans with others for the organi- 
zation of a new State. In the following July he appears in 
the convention at Dorset, as delegate from the town of Col- 
chester, and is assigned a place on important committees. In 
the September session his name is equally prominent, being 
associated in responsible duties with those of Jonas Fay and 
Thomas Chittenden. The declaration having been passed 
unanimously that the territory of the New Hampshire Grants 
ought to be free and independent, and the covenant signed, 
Allen is designated as one of two commissioners to traverse 
the counties to the east of the mountains, and commend to the 
minds of the people there the advantages of a separation from 



the government of New York. Of the convention held the 
next October at Westminster, as also of that of the January 
following, Captain Ira Allen was clerk, and likewise an influ- 
ential member of the committee selected to propose a plan 
for further action. ' And once and again in the months which 
followed, his ready pen was put in motion to defend the con- 
vention and the people of the district against the arguments 
^nd the aspersions of the offlcers and agents of Kew York. 

The affairs, civil, military and diplomatic, of the embry- 
-otic State, were directed by the Council of Safety, which ruled 
the Grants with an absolute yet benign authority, and watched 
with a sleepless vigilance the movements of British without, 
and of Tories within, her borders, and was alert to anticipate 
■or to oppose the equally unfriendly attempts of New York 
politicians and speculators. 

The guiding minds in this council were undoubtedly 
Thomas Chittenden, nineteen times elected pilot of the newly 
launched ship of state, and Ira Allen. To estimate the 

> The intense earnestness which characterized these builders of a new 
State is very impressively exhibited by a mere list of the dates of their 
conventions previous to the adoption of the constitution. There were 
three conventions at Dorset beginning respectively January 16, July 21, 
and September 25, 1776 ; two at Westminster, October 30, 1776, and 
January 15, 1777 ; two at Windsor, June 4 and July 2, 1777. Five con- 
ventions within one year ! In the five years, 1778-82, the assembly held 
fifteen sessions. New York was allowed to gain nothing by virtue of 
their inaction. 



responsibility resting on these two men, we must recollect that 
Remember Baker's promising career had been suddenly closed 
by an untimely death, that Ethan Allen was at this time a 
captive in England, and that Seth Warner and Robert Cochran 
were serving with the continental army until the close of the 
Revolutionary war. 

Chittenden was resolute, undaunted, a very rock for firm- 
ness, a tower of strength for his practical wisdom, qualities 
which were admirably reinforced by the foresight, the political 
sagacity, the fertility of resource, of his principal coadjutor. 

An incident in the campaign of 1777 may be cited as in- 
dicative of the man's quality and influence with the Council. 
The evacuation of Ticonderoga by the American forces on 
the sixth day of July had spread consternation throughout 
New England, and especially through the Grants, which lay 
directly in the track of the invading army. The Vermont 
Council of Safety had hastened from Windsor, where, during 
the progress of that providential thunderstorm, the conven- 
tion had just adopted the constitution " paragraph by para- 
graph," to Manchester, that they might take instant and ap- 
propriate measures for the defence of the frontier. The 
council assumed that the American generals had, of course, 
already sent off expresses to the authorities of Massachusetts 
and New Hampshire for immediate assistance. 

Allen could not accept this view of the case. In this- 



emergency an hour's delay miglit bring irretrievable disaster. 
These same generals, he knew by his own personal observa- 
tion when an envoy of the State the month before to the gen- 
eral in command at Ticonderoga, had been strangely, if not 
culpably, careless in regard to precautions against the enemy^ 
and they might have been equally negligent in the present 
juncture. He withdrew from the council, wrote despatches 
to the governors of the states named, signed them as Secre- 
tary of the Council of State, j)repared expresses, advanced 
money for their necessary expenses, and, tliis done, showed 
his letters, and prevailed on the council to authorize their 
transmission in its name. They proved to be the first official 
communications received by the authorities of these states.' 

"We all know the sequel. New Hampshire roused her- 
self to meet the peril. Stark and his men gathered at Num- 
ber Four "^ and made their forced march to Manchester. A 
few days later the battle of Bennington had been fought and 
won under the general and by the aid of the forces which 
Allen's missive had summoned. 

It is due to Allen's memory to saj further that the in- 
formation obtained by him, and the counsel given by him to 
Stark, caused Stark to anticipate the engagement by one day, 

' The letter to the governor of New Hampshire, and his reply, may- 
be seen in Slade's Vermont State Papers, 79, 80. 

^ Now Charlestown, N. H. 



10 

and attack Baum just before lie was to be reinforced by 1500 
men. It is idle to conjecture what would have been the issue, 
but for the timely action of the secretary of the council and 
his sagacious advice, or if both Stark and the council had not 
disregarded Schuyler's peremptory orders to have the troops 
proceed with all haste to Saratoga. This was the first break 
in a long series of disasters, which began with the fall of 
Montgomery eight months before. 

It is enough to know that the victory at J3ennington re- 
kindled in the continental army and in the whole country the 
hope and courage so nearly quenched by repeated reverses ; — 
that it contributed directly to the surrender of Burgoyne a 
few weeks later at Saratoga; and that this surrender paved 
the way to that alliance with France (February, 1778) which 
went so far to turn the scales at last in favor of the revolted 
colonies — and further, to remember that this series of mo- 
mentous consequences connects itself at two critical points 
with the quick decision of that young secretary of the Council 
of Safety who would leave nothing to uncertainty and delay. 

The truth of history requires us to connect the name of 
Ira Allen with another operation which contributed to the 
surrender at Saratoga, The bold attempt about a month after 
Baum's defeat, and a month before Burgoyne's capitulation, 
to cut the British line of communication with Canada, also 
originated with the Vermont Council of Safety. The secretary 



11 

of the council does not hesitate to claim his share in the credit 
to be given for the taking of Mount Hope 'and Mount Defi- 
ance and the posts on Lake George, the liberation of the 
American prisoners taken at Hubbardton, and the capture of 
three hundred of the enemy. This movement alarmed the 
British at Saratoga and set them to intrenching. The project 
carried into effect by the hands of Colonels Brown and War- 
ner and Captain Ebenezer Allen, had been entertained first by 
the agile brain of Ira Allen and accepted by the soldiership 
of General Lincoln. 

One of the most serious difficulties confronting the infant 
State was the utter lack of one of the two main sinews of war. 
Gold they had none, nor could they devise any means to ob- 
tain it. The Council had not a shilling of public money, no 
credit, no power to lay or collect taxes, and were not person- 
ally able to advance any large sums from their private purses. 
For a whole day they discussed the situation, but found no 
light. Just before adjournment a member of the council 
moved, apparently with a touch of sarcasm, "that Mr. Ira 
Allen, the youngest member of the council, who insisted on 
raising a regiment while the majority were for only two com- 
panies of 60 men each, might be requested to discover ways 
and means to support a regiment, and to make his report at 
sunrising on the morrow." When the council convened the 
next morning, his scheme was ready. He proposed the ap- 



12 

pointment of commissioners of sequestration, the seisure and 
sale at auction of the goods and chattels of all who had [joined] 
or should join the common enemy, and the payment of the 
proceeds to the treasurer of the Council of Safety. His 
measure was adopted by the council and the regimental officers, 
appointed. The effect was instantaneous. The government 
was at once possessed of all the funds it needed. Bounties 
were offered and paid at the expense of the enemies of the 
State of Vermont and of the United States. In a fortnight 
Yermont had a full regiment of rangers ready to protect the 
imperilled homes of the young republic. From this time till 
the close of the war there was no more stringency in the State 
treasury.' It was the resourceful brain of Ira Allen which 
first in the United States resorted to confiscation of the tories^ 
estates to fill an empty or exhausted treasury. 

No son of Yermont can read without mingled amazement 
and indignation the detailed history of those perilous years. 
Congress and its agents were swayed by the councils of New 
York. No provision was made for guarding the borders of 
the State. The military frontier was so drawn as to protect 
Albany, and cover the settlements along the Hudson, leaving 

^ When Ira Allen's accounts as State treasui-er were audited in Feb- 
ruary, 1787, it was shown that, out of a total revenue from March, 1777, 
to October, 1786, of £327,987, the sum of £190,433 had been received 
from confiscated property, as against £66,815 for grants of land, and 
£45,948 from taxes. 



13 

Yermont without defence from invasion. 'Not a gun was left 
to the Green Mountain Boys, not a pick or spade, of all the 
munitions of war which their valor had taken at Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point. Their sole reward for acts of heroism and 
unfaltering loyalty to the common cause, M'as desertion and 
neglect. The more northerly settlements had been abandoned 
in the spring of 1776. Two years later it was a serious ques- 
tion whether there should not be a general exodus from all 
the western half of the district to places within the lines of 
the continental army. In the beginning of 1780 the dismem- 
bei'ment of Vermont seemed to be foredoomed. New York 
claimed everything up to the west bank of the Connecticut. 
New Hamphsire saw her opportunity, and pressed her claim 
to so much of the district as lay to the east of the central range 
of mountains. Massachusetts, disinclined to be a mere on- 
looker if the friendless would-be State was to be partitioned, 
revived her ancient claim to a large section on the south. A 
British army, 10,000 strong, was hovering on the Canadian 
border. Escape from so many and so powerful foes seems an 
impossibility. 

But Vermont was no lamb in the midst of wolves, no 
inaiden frightened into helplessness by the dragons that on all 
sides wait to devour. How to make reprisals, how to con- 
found the plots of those who were confederated against her, 
is the sole study of her leading spirits. Again the fertile 



14 

brain of the secretary evolves a scheme to cope with the emer- 
gency.' The New Hampshire Grants assume the aggressive, 
and the so-called East and West Unions are organized. 
Twelve districts to the west of the Grants are detached from 
New York and welded to Yermont by their own deliberate 
action in convention. New Hampshire is weakened by the 
voluntary secession of 35 towns which have resolved to cast in 
their fortunes with the outlaws of the Green Mountains, The 
political pot is in furious ebullition by reason of this organized 
revolt of towns which had hitherto been outside the despised 
and persecuted, but defiant, republic. The war had been 
pushed into Africa, and with the desired result. Yermont 
asserted her claim to all the territory from Mason's line (which, 
it will be remembered, was drawn at a distance of but sixty 
miles from the sea) to the Hudson river. Her domain was 
doubled. Internal disaffection was silenced, and friends out- 
side were emboldened to aid her now hopeful cause. The 

' This may have been too positively stated. In a centennial address 
at Salisbury, Conn., in 1841, Chief Justice Samuel Church said, referring 
to the East and West Unions and the Haldimand negotiations : "In her 
dilemma, Vermont's most sagacious men resorted to the councils of her 
old friends of Litchfield county, and it is said that her final course was 
shaped, and her designs accomplished, by the advice of a confidential 
council assembled at the house of [brigadier general, afterward] Governor 
[Oliver] Wolcott, in the village of Litchfield."' It will be remembered 
that the Aliens, Chittendens, Chipmans, Galushas, Skinner, and other 
men of prominence in the early days of Vermont, came from Litchfield 
county, Conn. Gov. and Council of Vt. II. 133. 



15 

new accessions were enthusiastic over their change of allegiance. 
It is true, these Unions lasted less than a^ year. While Allen 
was absent on an important mission to the Continental Con- 
gress, the legislature, in the hope of obtaining immediate 
admission to Congress by following its rather imperative 
advice, dissolved both Unions with a haste which was not 
approved by the projector of this countercheck to the encroach- 
ments of Vermont's greedy and selfish neighbors. This bit of 
political strategy had however accomplished the chief object 
of its author. It had compelled the respect of the contigu- 
ous States, and raised the struggling commonwealth to a van- 
tage ground which it never lost. It was a significant step in 
the diflicult advance toward a position of recognized autonomy. 

Naturally enough, this annexation of territory, though 
effected by peaceful means, was promptly confronted on either 
border by menaces of war. New Yoik marched 500 men into 
the disputed territory, who were resolutely faced by as many 
Vermonters, both parties waiting only for the word that 
should begin a civil war. Allen was sent to negotiate between 
the two armies and restore peace if possible. His best endeav- 
ors proving fruitless, he gained a promise from the Yermont 
commander to await further orders from the council, where- 
upon, in accordance with his advice, an additional army of 
500 mounted men with field pieces appears suddenly on the 



16 

field to reinforce the Yermonters, and the l^evr York general 
deems it prudent to retire, honor safe and no blood spilled. 

A like critical condition of affairs upon the eastern border 
was met and obviated by the vigor of Chittenden aided by the 
adroit management of Allen. Time forbids however a 
recital of the more indirect, but not less clever, expedients by 
which the threatened collision was obviated. For ticklish and 
doubtful emergencies Ira Allen seems always to have been the 
council's, and the govei'nor's, most trusted agent. 

Far the most important however of the diplomatic mis- 
sions intrusted to him, and the one fraught with tlie largest 
results to Yermont and to the United States, is still to be 
named. 

The isolated condition of the State, the hostility of her 
neighbors both on the east and west, the contempt with which 
the Continental Congress had treated her claims to statehood, 
the serious disaffection within her own borders ; these, in com- 
bination with the daring and independent spirit which the 
Grants had always exhibited, and especially of late in estab- 
lishing the East and West Unions, inspired a hope in the 
agents of Great Britain tliat the " Bennington mob " and their 
adherents might be detached from the league of the colonies, 
and so Yermont, recovered to her allegiance, form an impor- 
tant stepping-stone to the reconquest of the insurgent states. 
Once ranged on the side of the mother country, these Yer- 



17 

monters, whom Biirgoyne — and he had occasion to know — 
had styled "the most active and most rebellions race on the 
continent," would be powerful allies of the king and a terror 
to the i-ebels. 

The state of feeling in the Grants was well known to the 
British generals through their spies, both in the district and 
in Congress. If King George was disliked, New York was; 
hated. Every blow struck by Vermonters for the general 
enfranchisement had served but to hasten the day when the 
slavery against which for ten years they had contended should 
be riveted upon them. Great Britain was a distant enemy, 
and besides, there was in the minds of no inconsiderable frac- 
tion of the inhabitants a strong affection for the land of their 
fathers. Life would still be endurable if the sway of the 
mother country should be reestablished. Her rule took on a 
mild and maternal aspect, when compared with the exactions, 
robberies and insults caused or countenanced by the govern- 
ment of the Province and the State of New York. 

As Allen put the matter in his first interview with the 
British commissioners : — " He should not deny but j)rinciple 
inclined him and Vermont in general for the success of 
America, but interest and self-preservation (if Congress con- 
tinued to oppress them) more strongly inclined them to wish 
for the success of Great Britain, and to light like devils against 

their oppressors, be they who they might." 

2 



18 

Ethan Allen had been sounded on the matter in the sum- 
mer of 1780, and in a letter to the Continental Congress soon 
after, he had frankly declared : " That Vermont had an in- 
dubitable right to agree on terms of a cessation of liostilities 
with Great Britain, if the United States persisted in rejecting 
her application for a union with them." Plainly, as Allen 
says, the Yermonters could not be expected to defend the in- 
dependence of the United States, while at the same time the 
United States had full liberty to block and ruin the independ- 
ence of Vermont. 

Negotiations were at once opened with the British author- 
ities, ostensibly to arrange an exchange of prisoners. The 
chief agent in the exploiting of this scheme was Colonel Ira 
Allen, assisted by Major Joseph Fay, though Ethan Allen, 
and later a few others, were associated with them in the 
responsibility. 

After a few days' conference with the British commis- 
sioners on Lake Champlain, to the surprise and mystification 
of everybody except the few in the secret, the British forces 
retired to winter quarters in Canada, and the Vermont militia 
as quietly returned t(» their fii esides. Tiiis, however, was but 
a temporary truce. In April of 1781, the British had a force 
of 10,000 men in Canada, ready to descend upon the frontiers. 
Vermont was utteHy at their mercy. How could she meet 
the exigency ? Jealousies had already been aroused by the 



19 

truce of the previous year, and the spies both of Congress and 
of the British were everywhere. To avoid suspicion, it was 
resolved to send but a single commissioner on this delicate 
and dangerous enterprise, and Ira Allen was the man selected. 
His departure having been delayed for some days for 
reasons personal and political, Governor Chittenden, General 
Ethan Allen, and others, were so impressed with the unlikeli- 
hood of success, and the great hazard attending the venture, 
that, indispensable though it seemed to the safety, nay, to the 
very being of the State, they advised and entreated him to 
abandon the project. All concerned were in peril — governor, 
councilors, and particularly their emissary, — should any proof 
of such treasonable negotiations fall into the hands of the 
spies of New York, N^ew Hampshire, or the American Con- 
gress. Both property and life were at stake. 

Three times after he had mounted his horse on that criti- 
cal first of May did Ethan Allen, anxious for his brother's 
safety, and mindful of his own sufferings in prison, detain him 
for further converse. The intrepid Ethan, reckless of person- 
al peril, quailed at the thought of the risks which Ira was now 
to face. Ira Allen was firm against both doubts and fears. 
By this effort only was it possible to save the existence of the 
State. It was the sole remaining means of averting impend- 
ing ruin. He had faith that he could find some means to ac- 
complish the business intrusted to him. He assured his 



20 

friends that he was not afraid of present danger from the 
British, the United States, or the violence of parties in Yer- 
mont. He feared rather, as he said, that in case of success, 
of which he had no doubt, the British government would 
never forget nor forgive him ; that all his life this powerful 
and intriguing nation would be against him ; but, as the com- 
missioner of a sovereign, free and independent State, he would 
assume all risks in a tirm resolve so to conduct the business 
that no just cause of complaint could ever arise. So, facing 
an uncertainty and a danger which dismayed even the hero of 
Ticonderoga, he began his journey to the British camp. 

After private conferences lasting through 17 days, a 
cartel was arranged and an armistice verbally agreed upon. 
But no pressure could induce the wary minister of Vermont 
to set down in writing the terms on which Vermont was to 
become the favored colony of the crown, though he averred 
that the people of the State were weary of the war and would 
sooner submit to the king'than to the State of New York. As 
Governor Chittenden adroitly puts the case in a letter' to 
Washington in the following ]^ovember, "Colonel Allen, 
while negotiating the exchange of prisoners, was treated with 
great politeness, and entertained with political matcers, which 
necessity obliged him to humor in that easy manner that 

' From the pen of Ira Allen, if one may judge by internal evidence. 



21 

might serve the interests of this State in its extreme critical 
situation." 

This was in May. The General Assembly met in June, 
and the air was rife with rumors, and the legislators beset 
with spies from either side of the line. But all to no purpose. 
The legislature was as much in the dark as the rest of the 
world. An investigation of the matter was ordered. Gover- 
nor Chittenden gravely admitted the arrangement for an ex- 
change of prisonei's, and referred the House to Allen for fur- 
ther explanation. So dexterous, so apparently unreserved, 
was his statement, that everybody was satisfied, legislature, 
council, people, and spies of all parties, and yet the momen- 
tous secret was not betrayed.' 

Nor was this the only occasion on which the address and 
imperturbability of the Yermont plenipotentiary saved this 



' There seems to have been one exception to the general fideUty of 
those who were privy to these negotiations. Writing in 1807, Allen says: 
"When his excellency Isaac Tichenor Esquire was brigade Major in 1781, 
he was confidentially by his General led into the private negotiations 
with the British in Canada ; but he, Judas like, betrayed the secrets in- 
trusted to him by the commandant of the troops of Vermont, in Castle- 
ton." And he significantly adds : " Surely there are sufficient men of 
candor and abUity, to fill every office in the State of Vermont." Tichenor 
was at this time a candidate for the highest office in the State. 

Tichenor was governor 1797-1806, and again in 1808, thrice U. S. 
senator, and five years judge of the Supreme Court. That Allen had no 
confidence in Tichenor appears elsewhere. 



22 

diflSciTlt and dangerous negotiation from premature disclosure 
and wreck. 

The charge of treason to the cause of the colonies was 
afterward so often brought against all concerned in these 
transactions that Governor Hall finds occasion again and 
again * to defend even Governor Chittenden and other mem- 
bers of the Council of Safety from the suspicion of unpatriotic 
designs. It was indeed a desperate game to play. ButYermont 
was in peril of annihilation. The issue proved that both the 
measure and the man were matched to the emergency. 
Neither bribery nor intimidation — and both were attemj^ted — 
availed to divert him from his aim. The threatened invasion 
was prevented, and the day indefinitely postponed when 
Vermont was to fall a prey to one or all of her enemies. 

Now what were the results of this diplomacy ? Not Ver- 
mont only, but the whole frontier was for two years saved 
from the horrors of invasion. One-third of all the British 
troops in North America were kept inactive and the concen- 
tration of their forces was prevented. Washington was able 
to cope with the armies operating in the more southern states, 
and ere long the surrender of Cornwallis made it unnecessary 
longer to match diplomacy against a well-equipped and for- 
midable army. One life only was lost in the two years' con- 

' In his Early History of Vermont. 



23 

test with the agents of King George, a contest maintained by 
Governor Chittenden and his trusted advisers, and engineered 
by the wisdom and the wit of Allen. Yet its far-reaching 
consequences may be traced in the decisive battle of York- 
town and the peace of 1783. 

I have not attempted to make in the hour assigned me a 
full exhibition of the services rendered to the beleaguered and 
struggling State by our distinguished founder. Suffice it to 
say, by way of partial catalogue, that he was thrice deputed 
as special commissioner from Vermont to New Hampshire to 
compose the serious difficulties which had arisen between the 
two states ; that he was sent on like errands to the states of 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland to present 
before each the claims of Vermont to freedom and state- 
hood ; that he was twice delegated to press upon Congress the 
admission of Yermont as an equal member of the sisterhood 
of states ; and that on one of tliese occasions he with Stephen 
R. Bradley drew up that dignified remonstrance in which they 
declined to be mere spectators at an ex parte adjudication of 
their cause, involving as it did, the very life of the State, and 
thereupon withdrew, with an •' appeal to God and the world 
for the awful consequences that might ensue " if the contro- 
versy were attempted to be settled by Congress in the manner 
and upon the terms insisted on by New York. Was it desired 
to proclaim to New York and New Hampshire the invincible 



24 

'determination of the Green Mountain boys never to relinquish 
'their rights as self-governing freemen ? It is the pen of Ira 
Allen which formulates their declaration of rights, and their 
declaration of independence as well.' 

For the nine years ending with 1786 the Council of Safety 
was guided by his alert and provident counsels more than by 
those of any other mind. 

Eight times between 1783 and 1791: he was chosen Repre- 
sentative to the General Assembly from Colchester, and in 
1791 was a member of the Constitutional Convention. 

For eight years, 1778-85, he was the Treasurer of the com- 
monwealth, whose coffers were punctually replenished by 
methods of his own devising. 

^ In the account book of Ira Allen as treasurer of the state occur 

these items among others of similar import : 

1777, Jan'y 17th. To 9 days, part at Westminster, in assisting to 
write a declaration for a State, and other pieces 
for the Hartford papers 4 1 00 

1777, Nov . 2. To 15 days going from Salisbury to Williamstown 

and there with President Chittenden writing the 
Preamble to the Constitution, &c. from there to 
Bennington to confer with the Council respect- 
ing s"d Preamble — assisting to complete compil- 
ing from manuscript, the Constitution of the 

State 7 10 

Expense money 3 2 8 

1778, Oct. 23. To 2 days at AVindsor di-awing a plan for a 

State seal and getting Mr. R. Dean to make it lOsl 
1778, Dec. 25. To 18 days assisting to revise Vt. Appeal wrote 

byS.R. Bradley Esq. &c 9 16 



25 

In 1778 he was appointed Surveyor-general of the State 
and administered the office till 1787. The original book of 
charters had been carried to England by Governor Wentworth, 
but Allen was so far successful in collecting and recording the 
charters, that new grants of land could be made in 1780 with- 
out interference with previous grants or with each other, a 
measure deemed of special importance at that time for reasons 
both financial and political. In the same capacity he con- 
ducted surveys and opened roads to facilitate settlement and 
transportation of stores. ' 

When in 1790 New York had honorably yielded her 
claim to jurisdiction, Allen was one of seven commissioners 
on the part of Vermont to determine the boundary line be- 
tween the two states. The line, as it was then settled and 
has ever since remained, was adjusted in exact accord with 
Allen's own proposition to Congress several years before. 

Allen must be credited also with proposing the terms on 
which the long pending land controversy was at last satisfac- 
torily settled. All New York titles were to become null and 
void upon the payment by Vermont of the small sum of 
$30,000 into the treasury of New York for the benefit of in- 
dividual claimants, — a measure by which nearly 5,000,000 

■ His account rendered in 1788 shows an expenditure for surveys of 
£3018.96. There is a separate account for cutting roads in twenty-nine 
towns. 



26 

acres were freed from the delays, the dangers and the expense 
of protracted lawsuits. 

In an act passed by the General Assembly in 1785, Allen 
is somewhat magniloqnently but truthfully described as "agent 
and delegate to Congress, ambassador to sundry of the differ- 
ent States of America, and special commissioner to the 
Province of Quebec," — titles which lose their strangeness 
when we remind ourselves that for fourteen years Vermont 
existed as an independent and sovereign state, owning and 
owing fealty to no man or nation on earth, and that this 
unique position among American states was due to no other 
man in so large degree as to him whom we seek to honor 
to-day.' 

A few details of a more personal nature will be of inter- 
est at least to the dwellers in this region. Ira Allen was 
twenty-two years old, when with his cousin Remember Baker 
and five others he set out in the fall of 1772 from Skeens- 
borough, now Whitehall, to explore the country lying about 
the Onioji river. Three or four days' hard rowing brought 
them to the foot of the lower fall at Winooski. Here they 
found proof that a surveying party from New York had got 
the start of them. The two men whom they found were 

' It is a tradition in the Chittenden famUy that Governor Thomas 
Chittenden thought Ira Allen had done more good work for the new 
State than any other two men. 



27 

promptly made prisoners, and their boat seized. The next 
morning two other boats came up the river witli six white 
men and thirteen armed Indians. A tight seemed imminent, 
but by a happy combination of daring and diplomacy the 
Indians were made to see that they had no interest in the 
quarrel, and the 'New Yorkers surrendered at discretion, and 
were allowed to depart after a pledge never to enter the region 
again. His explorations completed, and his supplies reduced 
to but a single dinner for the party, Allen with four compan- 
ions crossed the wilderness to Pittsford, seventy miles away^ 
arriving on the fourth day, well-nigh exhausted. 

The next spring Allen and Baker returned to the Falls, 
the latter bringing his family. Their first step was to con- 
struct a fort on the north bank of the river, a few rods east 
of the present iron bridge, on an eminence now mostly washed 
away. Fort Frederick was built of hewn timbers, two stories 
high, with 32 portholes in the upper story, and well supplied 
with the means of defence against the Yorkers, should they 
molest them. A surveying party from ISTew York was dis- 
covered that summer at work farther up the river. Allen 
with three men from the fort went in pursuit of them, but 
they escaped in safety, never to venture again into so danger- 
ous a locality. This year the Onion River Company, as they 
styled themselves, effected an overland connection with the- 
more southern settlements by cutting a road through the forest 



28 

from Fort Frederick to Castleton, some seventy miles. Clear- 
ings and settlements were made in the vicinity of the fort, but 
in the spring of 1776, in consequence of military reverses in 
Canada, the defenceless state of the frontier, and the actual 
attacks of the Indian allies of the British, this and all the new 
settlements in this region were suddenly abandoned. 

Seven years after, when peace had crowned the struggle 
for American independence, while that for the independence 
of Vermont had still eight weary years to run/ the fugitives 
of 1776 returned to their holdings about the Onion river. 
Allen built a dam at the Falls, two sawmills,* one on either 
bank, a grist mill, two forges with a furnace, where iron ore 
was converted into millirons, forge hammers and anchors, 
maintained a ferry above the dam and built a schooner on the 
river below, and in various directions greatly stimulated the 
settlement and development of the region.' 

1 In 1777, a report by a committee of which Allen was a member, 
styles this " the troublesome and aged conflict." 

■ In 1795 he liad seven sawmills in operation on his lands, and owned 
10,000 acres covered with pine. 

^ AUen's house stood to the east of the road which crosses the bridge, 
nearly on the site now covered by Winooski block, and Madame Aliens 
garden, which lay to the east of the mansion and extended down to the 
river, was a "paradise of fruits and flowers." At this house in 1785 sat 
the first county court ever held in this county. Mrs. Allen was the 
daughter of General Roger Enos, and her husband's wedding gift at her 
marriage had been the township of Irasburgh, 23,000 acres of land, 
which after his death became a means of support to his family, and 
later, the source of his son's wealth. 



29 

Allen early saw the advantages to Yermont of free com- 
mercial intercourse with Canada. The St. Lawrence, the 
Sorelle and Lake Champlain offered almost unimpeded water 
communication with Europe, and promised at no great ex- 
pense to make good to the State the lack of a seaport. A ship 
canal of moderate cost would enable ocean vessels to unload 
their cargoes at the wharves in Burlington and at otlier harbors 
on Lake Champlain.' Not only would Allen's landed estate, 
lying mostly along the lake, of over 200,000 acres, be largely 
enhanced in value thereby, but the whole western half of the 
State would iind a better market for its products, and pay less 
for foreign goods, by utilizing Lake Champlain as a commer- 
cial thoroughfare. . 

In the capacity of diplomatic agent, or minister, of the 
then independent republic of Vermont, Allen had opened 
negotiations with Canada, with a view to direct trade, imme- 
diately after the peace of 1783. 

Li 1795 he sailed for England to obtain, among other 
objects, both the authorization and the aid of the British gov- 
ernment in constructing the proposed canal. But his efforts 
proved unavailing, as the finances of England were at this 
time heavily burdened by the war with France. The project 

' This project was revived and pushed with some local enthusiasm, 
as many will remember, some years ago, under the name of the Caugh- 
nawaga canal. 



30 

was never relinquished bj Allen, however, being nrged by 
him in every hopeful quarter by tongue and pen for full 
thirty years. 

He had another object in going abroad, partly commer- 
cial and partly patriotic. He was the ranking major general 
of the State, and the militia were but indifferently accoutred 
and equipped. General Allen declared that he would never 
review the troops again unless they could be properly armed 
and uniformed. So he obtained from Governor Chittenden a 
commission under the seal of the State to purchase abroad 
such guns and military supplies as were deemed necessary.' 
After some overtures to parties in London, he finally closed a 
contract, on better terms than could be had in England, with 
the French government for 20,000 stands of arms and an equal 
number of bayonets and twenty-four four-pound field pieces, 
most of which were shipped at Ostend on board a neutral 
ship named the Olive Branch for New York city. These 
supplies of war were intended for the militia of Vermont and 

1 In 1794 there had been some fear of an outbreak of hostilities be- 
tween Great Britain and the United States. The Legislature of Ver- 
mont had repeatedly before this date had the arming of the miUtia 
under consideration. In the year named Governor Chittenden made 
several attempts to obtain arms, both by purchase and by loan from 
the United States arsenals, but without success. Washington made a 
requisition on the States for troops May 19, 1794, and on June 21 
" Governor Chittenden had ordered 2,139 Vermont militia, to be organ- 
ized, armed, equipped, and held in readiness to march at a moment's 
warning." 



31 

northern JSTew York, and were to be disposed of directly to 
the citizen soldiers,who were responsible to the State for tlieir 
military outfit. 

Here begins a chapter of losses and misfortunes which 
ends only with the life of Allen. The Olive Branch with 
Allen on board was seized by a British cruiser to the west 
of Ireland and taken into port as a lawful prize. Under the 
rulings of a judge who 'cannot be charged with impartiality or 
even courtesy, the case dragged its slow way through the 
Court of Admiralty, the Court of Appeal, and the Court of 
King's Bench, and received final adjudication only in 1804, in 
spite of all the means employed by Allen to hasten a decision. 
Not even his fertility in expedients could avail against the 
prejudice and obstinacy of the old admiralty judge. Unfor- 
tunately England was at this time apprehensive of a revolt in 
Ireland, and had been somewhat disturbed by actual insurrec- 
tion in the province of Quebec. No proof was ever attempted 
on the plaintiff's side of intent on Allen's part to aid the 
enemies of England, yet his demand for the restoration of his 
property was unheeded in spite of treaties, in spite of super- 
abundant testimony, the eflPorts of eminent counsel, of whom 
Erskine ' was one, and the interference of the American 
minister. In the course of the long conflict Allen was impris- 
oned both in London and in Paris, — six months in the latter 
• Afterward Lord Erskine. 



32 

place, although no information was ever lodged against him. 
It would take too long to tell the story of the privation and 
abuse and indignity to which he was hei'e subjected ; of the 
attempt upon his life, as he believed ; of his sudden release 
without the shadow of a trial, although he vehemently de- 
manded a trial under the constitution and laws of France. 
Finally, after considerable delay and much annoyance, seeing 
no hope of justice on either side the channel, in 1801 he broke 
away from France and returned to America. 

But on his return to his beloved Vermont he found in- 
trigue and greed had made use of the forms of law to dispos- 
sess him of his large estate and other valuable properties esti- 
mated to be worth more than $1,000,000. The titles to nearly 
300,000 acres of valuable land, lying between Ferrisburgh and 
the Canada line, partly his own and partly held by him for 
his brothers' heirs, had passed into alien hands by the opera- 
tion of the tax laws.' Vexatious suits were begun against 
him, and counter suits instituted, but the conspiracy — for 
such he always insisted it M'as, a consj)iracy not unconnected 
with his diplomatic successes of revolutionary days, but rein- 
forced by the malice and the avarice of those whom he had 

^ In 1795 Allen held legal titles in his own right to a gi'eat part of 
eleven townships (besides large tracts in other towns). On these had 
been erected seven sawniiUs, three corn-mills, u-on foundries, houses, etc. 
In 1801, scarcely an acre could be found which had not been rendered 
unsalable by "new patched up titles." 



33 

opposed in the course of his harassing admiralty suits ; hj 
the jealousies and hatred of rivals or opponents in the long 
conflict with Kew York ; as also by the selfish greed of mean 
souls who saw an easy way to wealth by buying at the con- 
stable's sale the titles of an absent citizen, — the conspiracy 
proved too strong for him, and he finally retired from the 
lands which he had held by an undisputed title in 1795, and 
from the State' whose foundation no man had done more to 

' Allen escaped from "Burlington prison" on a Sunday evening in 
[April ? ] 1803, just as the ice had disappeared in Lake Champlain, went 
by boat to the head of Lake George, where he "purchased a horse, and 
took a long journey for his health." "It was certain death to remain 
there," he says, referring to the jaU, "nor have I yet regained my health, 
although for much tune constantly in the use of medical aid," — so he 
writes in 1810. He returned to Burhngton in January, 1804. In Oc- 
tober of the same year he attended the sessions of the Legislature at 
Rutland for eighteen days, and attempted to get his case and his claims 
before the assembly. His petition for a year's exemption from an*est in 
civU suits was refused, though at this same session like immunity was 
gi-anted to three other persons for three, four, and five years respective- 
ly. Later in the session, a resolution was introduced for a bill "author- 
izing Ira Allen, Esq. , to apply to the President of the United States, to 
hire Gun-boat No. 1. of the American navy, for the purpose of im- 
porting arms for the use of the militia composing the alarm list of this- 
State." This bit of sarcasm — for such it appears to be — indicates the tem- 
per of the house toward Allen. 

The marshall with his posse suiToimded his hotel to arrest him in the 
gray of a Monday morning, only to find in the afternoon, after much 
search, that he was really gone! He had exchanged his tiomk f or 
saddle bags, and, " his business requiring haste," ridden to Poultney, 
where he spent Monday with his " old friends, the Heroes of 1775," and 

3 



34 

establish, to a community whicli even then had got beyond 
the barbarism of imprisonment for debt, the very State indeed 
whose constitution Vermont had twenty-five years before 
taken for her model. Had Yermont copied also Pennsyl- 
vania's legislation in regard to the collection of debts, she 
might have saved herself from what seems to me the darkest 
page in her history. 

It is pathetic to read the exile's calm, earnest, manly ap- . 
peals from his safe harbor in Philadelphia, that for the space 
of three years he be granted immunity from the operation of 
the merciless laws alluded to, in order that he might by just 
process of law come by his own again, or by bargain and com- 
promise recover some portion of the property which had been 
wrested from him. I do not find that either governor or 
Legislature ever responded to these appeals, backed as they 
were by arguments of which chapter after chapter in the his- 
tory of the State were the unimpeachable confirmation. Allen's 
theory of a conspiracy is the only one which ex'iDlaiiis this 
mysterious injustice and ingratitude. It was the day of 
Allen's enemies, of whom there were many, and of tax titles, 

on Tuesday took the tuiiipike for Troy, in order to put the hne of the 
State of New York between him and the "law conjurers of Vermont." 

October 18, 1810, a petition of Ira Allen for an act of suspension was 
read in the House and referred to the committee of insolvency, in which 
reference the Council concvuTed. I find no record of any action upon it . 
The committee seems to have taken the responsibility of suppressing 
the petition. 



35 

the law in regard to which had been changed, evidently with 
a purpose, after Allen had sailed for Europe. The unscru- 
pulous avarice which stole his princely domain, and held it 
against him by such terms of statute law, in utter disregard of 
equity, may have found means to blind, or to control, a legis- 
lature. 

ISTor does it afford much consolation to know that Setli 
Warner, that stalwart soldier and patriot, was in like manner, 
while risking his life for the liberties of Yermont, cheated out 
of all his holdings by the same easy process of bidding off tax 
titles. Thus creatures with the souls of camp sutlers and 
renegades, under protection of the Legislature and the courts, 
robbed of their estates the very men whose unselfish devotion 
had made the State of Vermont, first a hope and a possibility, 
and then a solid fact. 

I find record of one man who was granted freedom from 
arrest for five years, and of another who was given the same 
immunity for life ; but for Ira Allen, I do not discover that 
any personal friend, or grateful son of the Green Mountain 
State, so much as suggested in the General Assembly the 
granting of a like privilege. It is true however that one 
year's exemption from arrest and imprisonment for most suits 
of a civil nature, had been voted by the Legislature of 1801. 

The dignified, respectful, solidly reasoned appeals which 
I have mentioned, as well as Allen's narrative in his own 



36 

History of Yermont (>f such transactions as he was immedi- 
ately concerned in, recalls a saying of Tacitns respecting cer- 
tain worthies of Rome's republican days, who had left behind 
them accounts of their own share in the movements of their 
time. " Such writing revealed," says the Roman historian,' 
" neither presumption nor arrogance, but rather a just con- 
fidence in the integrity of their own character." The letters 
and other autobiographical writings of Allen testify every- 
where to an honest faith in himself, and challenge from the 
impartial reader a generous recognition of his honorable pur- 
pose and of the value of his labors." 

Judge Chipman, contrasting the characters of Ethan Allen 
and Warner, saj'S : " Tt is evident they were far more effec- 
tive and more useful in defending the New Hampshire Grants 
than they would have been had they both been Aliens or 
both "Warners," and deems it not extravagant to add that 

' Vita Agricolae, 1. 

'■' Governor Hall, in his Early History of Vermont, criticises AUen 
for dependence in his history on the earlier work of Dr. Wilhams. It is 
quite likely that AUen had with him in London a copy of the fii'st edition 
of WiUiams' history, which appeared the year before Allen went to Eng- 
land. Else he would have had to rely almost solely on his memory for 
both facts and dates. The real dependence seems to be of Dr. WiUiams 
on Ira AUen throughout the whole poUtical section of his work. AUen's 
history, albeit not without sUght lapses from perfect accuracy, is a vig- 
orous defence of both the State and himself against bitter and unfounded 
aspersion. By a candid statement of facts he vindicates both Vennont 
and himself in the view of aU who were amenable to reason. 



37 

" had either been wanting, the independence of Vermont 
might not have been achieved." 

A calm survey of the multiform and critical offices dis- 
charged by Ira Allen will warrant the statement, that but for 
his shrewd political strategy, his insight into the characters 
and schemes of the men he had to deal with, and his forecast 
of the probable issues of every movement on the political 
chess board, his resourcefulness and his reticence, the more 
open and prominent parts of Ethan Allen and Warner and 
Chittenden might have been played in vain. Providence 
might indeed have raised up some other man to act the role 
taken by him, but he alone of the men of that day seems to 
have been fully qualified for its function. The written or 
the spoken word not seldom weighs more than the sword. 
The strategy of the cabinet prepares the way for the strategy 
of the field, or gathers up and conserves its victories. 

The founding of the University of Vermont was but an 
incident, albeit a most important one, in Allen's con- 
tribution toward the building of the State. His sagacious 
mind clearly discerned the true relations between education 
on the one hand, and patriotism and politics on the other. A 
complete intellectual independence would tend to strengthen 
and consolidate that moral and political independence which 
should characterize a self-governing community. The propo- 
sal of the Dartmouth authorities, on consideration of certain 



38 

grants of land, to supply free collegiate instruction, and super- 
intend the academies throughout Vermont, though well-meant 
and honorable, still left something to be desired. Vermont 
was dependent, and in a sense tributary, so long as her sons 
were obliged temporarily to expatriate themselves to obtain 
a well-rounded education. Such dependence upon outside aid 
touched the sense of manly self-respect, that central virtue in 
which loyalty and patriotism must be rooted, if they are to- 
abide. That provision in the first constitution for " one gram- 
mar school in each county, and one university in the State, to 
be established by the direction of the General Assembly,'^ 
probably came from the hand of Ira Allen, ' though the only 
thing certainly known about it is, that he put in a claim for 
his services in drawing up the document as it was submitted 
to the convention. And this was one of the most significant 
additions to their model in the constitution of Pennsylvania. 
Allen's connection with the University was so fully set 
forth in Mr. Benedict's oration one year ago as to make it 
superfluous to speak of it in detail to-day. It was his offer in 
1789 of £4000, twice larger than the munificent offer of Elijah 

^ In an "Address to the Inhabitants of the State of Vermont,"' 
November, 1778, Allen writes thus : — " There is ample provision made 
[in the Constitution of this State] for the propagation of the Gospel, 
together with proper Seminaries and Schools of learning, which are 
among the greatest blessings God in his wisdom ever bestowed on the 
fallen race of man." 



39 

Paine, which determined its location at Burlington in 1791. 
The reasons he presented for the location — the distance from 
Dartmouth college, and the proximity to the Province of Que- 
bec and the northern portion of Kew York, were abundantly 
justified in the earlier history of the institution. An inspec- 
tion of its catalogues will show that before the founding of 
McGill and Cornell universities, it drew a good proportion of 
its students from the farther shore of Lake Charaplain and 
from beyond the Canadian border. Harvard college rests 
upon an original appropriation by the colony of but £400, and 
its name is a magnificent monument to the man by whose will 
it received some £800 and a small library. Two years after 
the University was chartered, Allen offered an additional gift 
of 1500 acres of land, if the Legislature would allow the name 
of the institution to be changed. Again, in 1795, he proposed 
to bestow another £1000 in lands on specified conditions, and 
£1000 more in books and apparatus, in case the University 
should be called by his name. This proposition did not meet 
with favor in the Legislature, probably on account of certain 
conditions attached to the gift, though for such christening of 
the institution there were precedents enough in New England. 
Williams college had been so named but two years before. * 

^In January, 1792, Ira Allen sent a memorial to the Governor and 
Legislature of New York, asking for the grant of a township ten miles 
square in Clinton Covinty on these grounds : that the University of Ver- 



40 

Allen selected as a location for the future University a lot 
of 50 acres, one of the sightliest in all the Champlain Valley. 
Portions of it were alienated in the early days from time to 
time for reasons which one can recall only with mingled sor- 
row and indignation, until only an acre and a half remained.' 

One of the reasons which in 1797 Allen urges for the 
speedy determination of his suit before the Admiralty Court, 
was his desire to "erect public buildings for the University of 
Vermont," the materials for which he had already caused to 

' It may not be generally known that if the College were again to 
recover her original domain, she would be possessed of a large section 
of the park, and of some of the dwelhngs and gardens to the west of it. 



mont, "estabUshad on the East Bank of Lake Champlairi" would be 
"equally Convenient to the Northern Part of the State of New York as to 
Vermont ;" that previous to establishing a university of her own.Vermont 
had "granted a township to the Corporation of Dartmouth college sit- 
uated on the East Bank of Connecticut River ;" and that the Legislature 
of Vermont, having granted their own lands, have it not ui their power 
to grant a township to their own University; that [taken] "from the 
width and extent of the government of New York, one township will 
scarsely be persieved, but when added to the funds of this Infant Institu- 
tion may make it so respectable that children yet Unborn will Bless the 
Donors." 

Allen's petition was reinforced by another, dated Rutland, Novem- 
ber 7, 1792, signed by Thomas Chittenden, President, in behalf of the 
coi"poration of the University. The request was presented and favorably 
reported on, but action was defended until the following session of the 
Legislature. I have not learned what disposition was finally made of it. 



41 

be prepared. " These are kept," he says, " in a state of ruinous 
suspense by ray absence." ' 

The eldest son of Ethan Allen was placed by him in the 
University, and in the family of President Sanders. A younger 
son of Ethan was taken into his own famil}'^, and along with 
his own sons put in the way of preparation for college. ^ Ira's 
eldest son was a member of the University for the two years 
1808-10, but withdrew on account of ophthalmic difficulty. 
This was the Hon. Ira H. Allen of Irasburg, who had the op- 
portunity to add to his numerous offices and honors that of 
representative in the national Congress, if he had not unquali- 
fiedly declined the proposal. The younger son, Zimri, also 
began a course of study in the University, and read law with 
the Hon. Charles Marsh of Woodstock, finishing his legal 



' In their Report to the Legislature, October, 1804, the Trustees of 
the University say that the subscriptions made in September, 1789, " in- 
clude 113,333.33, made by Ira Allen, payable $3,333.33 in a lot of land to 
erect the buildings on and materials for the building, and the remainder 
in new lands." They report also that they have commenced a suit to 
recover what is stiU due from AUen, have "obtained judgment and 
levied the execution on lands in Plaitifield, which wiU probably secure 
about $10,000 worth of those lands." His complicated fuiancial embar- 
rassments seem to have rendered necessary such decision by the courts. 

"^ These two young men, Hannibal M. and Ethan H. Allen, were af- 
terward, without the knowledge of then- imcle Ira, removed to a military 
school, and later became officers in the U. S. Army. 



42 

studies at the law school in Litchfield, Conn., but died at the 
threshold of his profession.' 

Tradition presents Ira Allen as a man " of middle stature, 
thick set, a ruddy and lively countenance, large black eyes, a 
fine form, genteel in manner, and naturally social." His 
features as represented by an engraving published some years 
ago, would of themselves suggest the resourcefulness and the 
power of comprehension and combination which characterized 
his political and his business enterprises. Those lips can keep 
the secrets of the state. The calm and thoughtful eyes above 
have power to penetrate the disguised sympathies and aims of 
other men. The face indicates the power of vigorous and 
apt expression, regulated always by a reticence which guards 
its own counsel, and keeps the initiative, so far as possible, in 
its own hands. It betokens a quick intelligence, a temper not 
easily rufiled, a dignity not incompatible- with a generous 
sympathy, and an ambition not limited to personal regards. It 
gives the impression of reserved power, yet suggests that all 
powers are held always as in leash for instant and effective 
service. 

If these serene, thoughtful, almost speaking features 
could look down upon us from the walls of the Library yonder, 

'It will be of interest to add that a gi-and-daughter of Ira Allen is now 
living in the historic town of Lexington, Mass., and two great grand- 
daughters in this State, — one at Irasburg, and one at Derby Line. 



43 

in company with those of James Marsh and Joseph Torrey 
and Frederick BilHngs, no ahimnus could ever gaze upon them 
without a thrill of personal gratitude toward the man who 
build ed so generously and so wisely for the commonwealth 
after helping to lay its corner stone, and successive generations 
of undergraduates would receive inspiration and courage as 
they lifted their eyes to meet his look of greeting and benedic- 
tion. We have hope that the family fireside will not long 
lack a fitting presentment of the man from whom she traces 
her being and development. A due filial piety calls upon us 
to make prompt amends for long neglect. 

When Allen was sent in April, 1781, in behalf of the in- 
dependent republic of Vermont, to arrange a cartel for the 
exchange of prisoners, and a truce with the British forces in 
Canada, he delayed his departure a little, as I have already 
said, for reasons partly personal. Whether it was a matter of 
mere sentiment, or whether there was a touch of superstition 
in his make-up, he chose to wait for the first day of May, as 
the most auspicious beginning of an enterprise fraught with so 
momentous possible issues. This day of good omen was the 
anniversary of his birth. Thirty years before he had begun 
his not uneventful career. So forth he fared, his heart 
freighted with glad and grateful memories, and buoyant with 
the hopes of what he might achieve for the sovereign State of 
which he was the accredited minister, and for the larger inter- 



44 

ests of the struggling, and at this juncture, despondent confed- 
eracy. Within a few days his diplomacy had gained both its 
objects. 

If I venture to suggest to the honorable Board of Trus- 
tees the propriety of ordaining that from this time forward, 
the first of May, the natal day of Ira Allen, shall be set in the 
calendar of the University of Yermont as Founder's Day, to 
be observed as a holiday forever, significant at once of her 
origin, and of the new life pulsing continually in her veins of 
perennial and ever bourgeoning prime, I have small fear that 
any alumnus will enter his protest against the innovation, or 
that the undergraduate body will petition against such use of 
one day in the year in grateful recognition of our debt to our 
earliest benefactor. 

A monument over his ashes we cannot raise, for alas, we 
know not where they repose. Ungrateful Yermont again and 
again refused to him the immunity which he so earnestly 
sought in order to a residence within her borders. The State 
which he contributed so much to establish and consolidate 
virtually banished him in 1804 and turned a deaf ear to his 
importunate entreaties for permission to return. By her laws 
she forbade him to institute the necessary measures whereby 
he might come by his own again. In hospitable Philadelphia 
he still planned for the future of his beloved Yermont ; pre- 
pared an enlarged edition of his history of the State, though 



45 • 

never able to publish it ; continued to advocate the construc- 
tion of the ship canal of which in 1785 he had pi'ocured the 
survey ; and kept up his old interest in the political move- 
ments on both continents. Here at last, after many years of 
poverty and distress, kindly death released him from the per- 
secutions of his enemies and the bitterness of exile, on the 4th 
of January, 1814, in the 63d year of his age. His dust re- 
poses in some ancient burial ground of the city of Brotherly 
Love, but no stone stands above it, and no man can point out 
the spot. 

We can make no amends for the expatriation and suffer- 
ings of the closing decade of his life. There is the more rea- 
son, therefore, that we keep alive his memory, and signalize 
his eminent services to the Commonwealth and to the Uni- 
versity, by giving special honors henceforth to the day which 
gave him to the world. Your wisdom, gentlemen, will deter- 
mine whether such memorial would be wise and proper. 



tTbe founber of tbe IDinivevsit^ of IDermont 



H Centennial ©ration 

on tbe Xife a^^ public Servtcce of 

General Ifra Hllen 

Delivered 
Commencement Da*^ June 29 1892 

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